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Brookfield building will serve as set
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The former Trumbull County Nursing Home is overgrown and abandoned — the perfect place for Matt Adkins and Chris Rosier of Laythrom Media to shoot their first full-length feature film, which is a psychological drama, according to Adkins.
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The former Trumbull County Nursing Home is overgrown and abandoned — the perfect place for Matt Adkins and Chris Rosier of Laythrom Media to shoot their first full-length feature film, which is a psychological drama, according to Adkins.
By Ed Runyan
BROOKFIELD
Matt Adkins and Chris Rosier of Warren, along with about 10 other young technology-savvy filmmakers and artists who make up the company Laythrom Media, are making preparations to shoot their first full-length movie.
The primary filming location will be the Trumbull County Nursing Home property on McMullin Drive in Brookfield Township, which provides the filmmakers with a building that fits with the movie’s military theme.
The half-dozen barracks-style buildings were used as a county nursing home in the 1950s and 1960s, Adkins said. But they were built by the Air Force to provide radio towers for strategic defense during World War II.
“We needed it to look fairly militaristic,” Adkins said.
The buildings have fallen badly into disrepair, with broken windows and doors and high grass, but there is one building that can be restored to look nearly like new, Adkins said.
“We found literally the only building on the property that is not derelict,” Adkins said.
He and Rosier were at the site Friday cleaning up the building. Filming will start in about six weeks, when a cast of 20 will make the movie come alive from a script written by Adkins and Rosier.
The movie, to be titled “Within,” is set in the Soviet Union in the years just after World War II. Its main theme is the impact of government research and testing on human beings that “takes a turn for the worse,” Adkins said.
“It’s a psychological drama, not a horror film,” Adkins said. “That scares people more than horror films because of the realism.”
Laythrom Media of Warren, which bills itself on its website as an “experienced and multifaceted group of independent filmmakers,” received permission from the Trumbull County commissioners last month to use the county-owned facility on the condition that Laythrom signs a “release from liability” that holds the county harmless in the event of an accident.
Laythrom will be allowed to use the facilities at no cost.
McMullen Drive is off state Route 7 just south of state Route 82. The county constructed a water tower near the facility in recent years, but otherwise, the nursing-home land is abandoned.
Adkins, the film’s director, and Rosier are Warren Harding High School graduates. Laythrom’s associates are mostly in their 20s.
Other Laythrom films include a DVD labeled “Channel” from local band The Kellys as well as projects for other bands.
Laythrom also is writing a story and script named “South Side,” which likely is to be the company’s second full-length film, Adkins said.
Short films Laythrom has done in the past include “The Unknown” and “An Evil that Lies Within.” The short film “Changes” will be re-released on Laythrom’s website (www.laythrom.com) via streaming video in the near future, Adkins said.
“Changes” reflects on issues and problems that American soldiers deal with. Some of Laythrom’s partners are former military.
Laythrom also offers a variety of commercial services. They include disc duplication, video and audio editing and mastering, graphics design, commercial production, education and interactive training production, computer-generated imaging and 3-D animation services, music video production and special events.
Laythrom will film the movie, market it and distribute it, Adkins said.